After beating both Athersley and Atherton in the qualifying rounds, Sandbach travelled to premier division club Squires Gate in the first round proper of the FA Vase writes Jack Beresford.

United were on a good run of form, they had won their last three games in the league, Squires Gate on the other hand had lost their last four games.

The game took a while to get going, the conditions weren't great for football which meant that both teams were struggling to get a real grip of the game. Sandbach had the first opportunity after just eight minutes when James Kirby used his pace to drive down the left flank, as he got into the box he crossed for Josh Lane at the back post, however Kirby’s cross was behind Lane and as he tried to change direction he lost his footing and the ball was cleared to safety.

Moments later the home side had a great opportunity to open the scoring as Andrew Richards played the ball in behind the defence and into the path of Dean Ing who blazed his first time shot well over the bar.

Squires Gate then won a free kick right on the edge of the box. It was a very dangerous position and one that Joe Booth would have fancied his chances from. He curled the ball towards the top right corner, it looked to be going in but then Ryan Moss who returned to the side following his injury was on had to claw the ball away to safety.

With 20 minutes of the game gone Sandbach took the lead, Matty Pearson crossed the ball into the box, it was cleared as far as Jake Chadwick who saw his shot from the edge of the box blocked, it then fell to Josh Lane who rifled the ball low and hard and into the back of the net from just inside the box. It was a great strike and a fantastic way to break the deadlock.

However, Sandbach’s lead didn’t last long, three minutes later the home side were level when wide man Ryan Riley got to the by-line down the right-hand side and sent in a cross to Seear who was a yard out and couldn’t miss. It was a shame for Sandbach who had been the better side and they deserved to be in the lead.

Two minutes later Sandbach should have regained the lead when good pressure from top scorer James Kirby allowed him to win the ball back in the offensive half, he was then able to drive into the box, with the keeper coming out to close down the angle, Kirby looked to place it under him, but the keeper did well to stick out a right hand and prevent the ball from hitting the net.

Sandbach had dominated the first half and they almost took the lead on the stroke of half time, Billy Buckley played a raking ball from right to left towards Lane who was able to cut into the box and shoot, unfortunately his shot was straight at the keeper who was able to palm the ball away.

At half time the scores were level but Sandbach had been the better side, they just couldn’t find the finish that would give them the lead. Sandbach started the second half in the same tempo that they ended the first, Billy Buckley picked up the ball in midfield and drove at the defence, he got into the box and unleashed a shot that was straight at the keeper.

Sandbach were still pushing for an equaliser, they came close once again with 15 minutes of the game to go when a deep out swinging free kick from the left was sent in by Buckley towards the back post, but Matty Pearson’s outstretched leg couldn’t quite reach the ball. Sandbach were piling on the pressure and Buckley’s deliveries were proving a real issue for the home sides defence. His corner from the right was met by Pearson who headed wide from the edge of the six-yard box, it was a great chance for Sandbach to take the lead so late on.

Almost straight after Sandbach went close again when substitute Aidan Haughton’s cross from the right fell to Buckley on the left side of the box who fired it back across goal towards Kirby who couldn’t quite reach it at the back post.

The home side had the majority of the possession in the second half, but they couldn’t find that final pass to split the Sandbach defence. With seven minutes to go they came close to taking the lead as Booth slid the ball in behind the defence to second half substitute Dawson who dragged his shot wide from the right of the box.

The game looked to be heading for extra time but in the 93rd minute disaster struck for United as Brett Dawson received the ball on the left of the box with his back to goal before turning and exquisitely curling the ball into the top right corner.

Sandbach manager Andy Hockenhull was disappointed with the goal as he said that “he should have been closed down quicker and he had too much space to shoot”. It was heart breaking for Sandbach who had been superb all game, however they didn’t take their chances when they came.

After the game Hockenhull said “I think today shows that if we go up we can compete, which is a very positive sign, we played the better football and we had the better chances. Overall it was a good cup tie. We didn’t deserve to get beat, I feel like if it had gone to extra time it would have been a fair result. I feel like we should have won the game, we had chance after chance to put the ball in the back of the net but we just couldn’t do it, it was a frustrating day”.

Match Report: Jack Beresford

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Next Match
Sandbach welcome AFC Liverpool on Saturday at 3pm in the first round of the Macron Cup.